You Don't Mess with the Zohan by Adam Sandler - Movie Review Example

An exploration of Adam Sandlers: Concept Heterosexuality Heterosexuality The term Heterosexuality refers to the sexual orientation of the human beings towards the opposite sex. It also refers to the romantic and sexual appeal people feel towards the opposite sex with a feeling of sense of belongingness and social identity based on these feelings. Heterosexuality is a term given to the human beings sexual behavior but could also refer to the animals which is so natural. This physical attraction is a means of reproductive capability enjoyed by human beings. (American Psychological Association 2004: Online)   Heterosexual identities and heterosexual normativities This relationship between the social identity humans beings feel with their sexual orientation is a result of the phenomenon started centuries back, when they began to develop their societies and began to feel intense emotions and belongingness with the society. Though, heterosexuality is a recent phenomenon but its existence in the past is very much true as it is today. Historical events are the mirror to our societal various appeals in which are included heterosexuality. This relationship has always been construed as a cultural norm in the context of marriage. This relationship has been defined as the heterosexual identities and heterosexual normativities. (Bhattacharyya 2002: 19) Normitivities means something very normal and becomes naturally a part of the social norm while in other case heterosexuals feel themselves identified with each other. But by the changes in the society, the norms regarding to the heterosexual behaviors too changed. In the 1950, society dictated the age of marriage to be between 19-21 and that increased to 25-27 in the 1990s. What was considered as a normal during 1950 is now considered as wrong and scandalous? (Bhattacharyya 2002: 19) Dictation by societal rules Like the above example, heterosexuality is dictated according to the respected societal rules around the world. In majority of the places all across the world it is a system of polygamy that rules whereas in some parts of the society it is a system of monogamy. Many societies have also adopted liberal approach towards heterosexuality but heterosexuality was not considered normal earlier. In 1901, The Dorland Medical dictionary gave the definition of heterosexuality as something quite abnormal or as “Abnormal or perverted appetite toward the opposite sex.” (Katz & Duggan 2007: 86) But, this very definition by Oxford English Dictionary considered totally misleading as in reality heterosexuality is very normal to human beings as it is normal to other mammals. Twentieth century also witnessed a sign of new hope for heterosexuals as this relationship saw public acceptance from new perspective. Themes relevant to heterosexuality There are four themes relevant to heterosexuality and is also seen in the sexological literature explicitly connected with the sexual acts. The first is related with the concern that in sexual acts females are submissive while males dominate. For e.g. it is quite a popular claim that, “to be aroused by a man means acknowledging oneself as conquered”. (Wilkinson & Kitzinger 1993: 205) In this whole act women should say do what you want with me and then she would say “enough I am at the end of my powers”, “I have had enough!” (Wilkinson & Kitzinger 1993: 205) Then women feel defeated and submissive. On the other hand a perfect husband should be “strong, bold, viril, aggressive, positive and compelling etc”. Wilkinson & Kitzinger 1993: 205) Such references were quite common in the writings even after Second World War. Depiction by films How man enters into the romantic endeavors that makes him typical heterosexual is portrayed by character Zohan Dvir, a Hebrew in a film “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” by Adam Sandler. Zohan was an army commander and a Mossad agent, who falsely declared his death to fulfill his dream to enjoy his life. He becomes a hairdresser and during this tenure is seen attracting several women and catching the attention of every visitor to the beach with this favorite Hacky Sack. During the vacations, he went to Eilat where he was seen cooking fish in the nude scene using several hummus for women, his friends and for himself. But unfortunately as he was partying, an Israeli defense forces helicopter picked him up and took him away from his leisure activities and earning too. As a hair cutter, he was feeling very happy having sex with several of the elderly patrons and landlady. He is clearly depicting himself as a sex God and having a good time acting as aw shucks boyishness. Exploration of the topic of analysis This movie defies the old conventional way heterosexuality is defined. A society demands one man having a relationship with one woman but hidden within the societies walls there are men who indulge in the relationship with several women as clear with the movie and vice versa. According to Butler, “It is through concrete acts, or performativities that the discourse of gender comes to be fixed to particular bodies.” (Butler, 1989:136) The sexuality activity is so natural a thing but is use in practical life as a reality enmeshed. Every now and then human beings have to face the irreconcilable conflicts of human soul, which emerges out of a life without belief. It is a belief of love that is often repressed by the vagaries of societal prejudices and obligations. Heterosexuality is often considered as a misconstrued act with media playing a dubious role. Amber O’Brien, a woman of 25 years old is going to have a breast transplant and she is proud of her achievement. The question arises how her breast transplant is associated with the topic heterosexuality and the answer is the way she is portrayed in the media. It’s an advertisement of Breast Implant Services; the best example of the way media brings the beauty of the women as the most obsessed thing and her feminity as the most commercially valuable sexual obsession. An article Sex and Relationships in the Media in Media Awareness Network clearly shows how the women partly clothed or their naked bodies are displaced in a provocative manner. Former president of Canada’s MediaWatch, Shari Graydon asserted that their bodies are displayed in a very sexual manner to grab the attention of viewers. Jean Kilbourne, a media activist also agreed and criticized “that women’s bodies are often dismembered into legs, breasts or thighs, reinforcing the message that women are objects rather than whole human beings.” (Media Awareness Network: Online) In a film You Don’t Mess With Zohan, our protagonist view women as sexual objects and lure them to fulfill his masculine desire and also to get his potential clients. Don’t mess with Zohan simply means don’t mess with the freedom of this man and of the man in general. Generally, we can call heterosexuality as very natural aspect but it becomes lust in the society when the modern life brings with it sadness, frustration and various terrible happenings. He indulges in the heterosexual activities when he is devoid of hope and faith. Frustrated men involve themselves in the mechanical love affair-performing sex but without love. It is a sex impotency of the modern man- a man who feels pleasure of having love but without having the true feeling of love. Between this, man also feels various subtleties of the human endeavor, as there are other side of human life too. One side of Zohan life is carefree but the other part of this life is associated with the heavy weapons, hand to hand combat operations with super-terrorists that make Zohan enter into Diaspora, but what Zohan wants is a life of simple hair dresser and a life of love and lure. Critical summary Zohan always have a picture hanging of Moshe Dayan on the bedroom wall but his main idol is Paul Mitchell who was the leader in the American hair-care whose styles Zohan give deep study and thoughts. His dream is a dream of every man on this earth. His dream was fulfilled but not fulfilled was the dream of other persons. Heterosexuality just like any other form for identification is a clear subjective. In a society of the Western world, we think of heterosexual as some one who draws his or her erotic and/or sexual stimulation from the opposite sex. It may be also true that in many of the different cultures heterosexual man can also engage in homosexual intercourse and condition being he keep this function confine towards his own sex during the whole process of intercourse and his gender. In some cultures, a man who has been defined as a heterosexual can be identified and assume any role provided that he retains his relationship with a woman in his family life. This role was very rarely given to women of the opposite sex but recently this role is being tolerated for women too. In short, the whole behavior of sexuality has been defined in the context of society and its various rules and laws. In ancient times in many societies, men can have many wives that meant men can have sex with several women but it is not so today. Society never permits this but paradoxically it is happening now also though hidden from the broader eyes of public. A romance between them seems at once inevitable and unthinkable, but the taboos that You Don’t Mess With the Zohan is unwilling to smash are few indeed. The movie is principally interested in establishing its main character as a new archetype in the annals of Jewish humor. He’s a warrior and also, to an extent undreamed of in the combined works of Philip Roth, Woody Allen and Howard Stern, a sexual hedonist, so utterly free of neurosis or inhibition that it’s hard to imagine him and Sigmund Freud occupying the same planet, much less the same cultural-religious tradition”. (Scott 2008: Online] Psychoanalysis applied At the beginning of the 20th century, there has been theoretical disposition of the psychoanalysis in the context of original bisexuality. Several studies by Alfred Kinsey during 1940 and Dr Fritz Klen sexual orientation subject of the grid of the 1980s found similar disposition to those postulated by their predecessors. All the religions have a faith that there is a sex between a man and a woman but only less number of people think, that it is a sin for e.g. The shakers, The Harmony Society, and the Ephrata Cloister. All these religions think that sexual relationship is a sin and advocate celibacy. Others think that heterosexuality is less inferior to celibacy. Reference List American Psychological Association. 2004. Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality. [Online] Available: http://www.apahelpcenter.org/articles/article.php?id=31 [3 November 2008] Bhattacharyya, G. 2002. Sexuality and Society: An Introduction. London / New York: Routledge Butler, J. 1989. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. London: Routledge. Katz, J.N. & Duggan, L. 2007. The Invention of Heterosexuality: With a New Preface. Chicago. University of Chicago Press, 2007. Media Awareness Network. Sex and Relationships in the Media. [Online] Available: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_sex.cfm [3 November 2008] Scott, A.O. 2008. Watch Out, He’s Packing a Blow-Dryer. [Online] Available: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/movies/06zoha.html [3 November 2008] Wilkinson, S. & Kitzinger, C. 1993. Heterosexuality: A Feminism & Psychology Reader. London: Sage Publications. Movie Happy Madison. 2008. You Don't Mess with the Zohan. Columbia Pictures. Read More